The M4 Phalanx
First off, congratulations on progressing far enough to make it to the Silver League. You've made it over the learning curve of the Type 63 and the trials of the Chisel and you're almost ready for the big leagues. I'll use this topic to explain the capabilities of your Phalanx as it comes up against heavier opponents. Also, I'll break down in-depth your role and effective strategies on how to fill it, helping you survive and prosper as you make your way up the ranks. For the sake of convenience, all stats I'm about to list are from an unmodified Mastery 16 Phalanx. Stats Armor, Health, and Subsystems Armor: 256 (turret)/ 248 (front)/ 165(sides)/ 49 (rear) Health: 1265HP Info: The armor on a Phalanx is actually superior to the other Silver light tanks - the BMP and 63-LS - and has the same bit points as the former. Compared to them this tank is forgiving on the subsystem damage although repeated track damage seems to be a problem. This unexpectedly makes the Phalanx the leader in durability among the lights. You should carry two med kits, two repair kits, and one fire extinguisher into every battle. They don't need to be replaced until you use them. Movement and Handling Max Speed: 77 Traverse: 50 Horsepower: 945 Info: One of the drawbacks to the Phalanx is that it's not much faster than heavier tanks. It's only 6km/h faster than a mastery 16 Type 79 and a mere 12km/h faster than a top Type 90-II. It's maneuvering is nothing special for its class but the tank is nimble enough for you to win a track battle against most opponents. Shooting Avg. Penetration: 176mm Avg. Damage: 378 Traverse: 36 Reload: 4.66s Range: Any Accuracy: Average Info: There's plenty of good and bad about this tank's marksmanship. A huge upside is that it can be accurate at any range. This is an advantage the BMP and LS do not have, Patient firing with a brief extra pause after reloading or traversing scores hits out to 500m regularly. The downside is that it doesn't become more accurate as you close range and pulling the trigger too soon after reloading even at point blank causes complete misses. The Phalanx's low damage and low penetration also mean that you have to be selective about where you aim in order to score well or at all. It is, however, just as much a killer as any other tank when you've a clear line of fire to the enemy's rear. Scouting and Concealment Info: With a current league-leading visibility of 356m, the Phalanx is second only to the BMP in scouting ability. It is a fairly large, high-profile tank though so concealment has to be chosen carefully to avoid accidentally revealing yourself to the enemy. Cost of Ownership: to purchase and upgrade a Phalanx from stock to Mastery 16 costs just under 250k total. This includes the purchase and sale prices of green and grey mods. (I had to buy the tank just now and progressively upgrade it to get this info). The ammo and repair costs for this tank are the lowest in the Silver league by a wide margin. Strategy There's certainly been more bad than good said about this tank. Developing a solid strategy, however, can make this tank last well into your silver league career. Try some of the following tidbits to increase your success. STOP! - you don't find mines by tap dancing across a minefield. Similarly, you don't find heavy tanks by driving full speed into their face. The first important lesson to learn is to slow down at the start of the battle. An overwhelming number of Phalanx drivers die first because they make contact with the enemy way too early and out of position to defend themselves. You can still be a top scout by doing the following: Scouting - once you've learned that autopilot will get you killed, it's time to focus on how to scout well for your team. You'll still stay ahead of them, just not so far. As your allies advance steadily, you advance in short sprints and let them nearly catch up. Sprint and wait. Sprint and wait. This means you're never too far away to receive help and the constant look-and-listen vastly reduces your chances of blundering into a fatal situation. Of course there's a key point missing here so far. You can't scout and survive without... Concealment! - a light tank sitting still out in the open is a nearly free kill for anything. Even other light tanks. There's a time to be visible but for the most part you want to use cover and concealment as much as possible. - Bushes- Tanks are easily concealed in bushes. If you've positioned yourself in a bush and want to know if you're well-hidden, switch to turret view. If there's a transparent green haze across your view, you're hidden from the front. Since there are hardly any bushes large enough to fully hide this tank, you need to keep in mind that you're completely visible from the rear. - Buildings - even though they do nothing to improve your camouflage, buildings are a handy source of cover as the enemy can't see through them. Make sure that the structure is both tall (often overlooked) and wide enough to completely cover your tank. If the enemy begins to knock it down with repeated shots, quickly move on as soon as their most recent shell hits the building. - Also, the audible range stat for every tank is the range at which they will detect you period. Even behind buildings, in bushes, and over terrain. But wait? I know you've tried to hide before and the enemy still seemed to find you easily. That's because there are two things that reveal you to the enemy no matter how well you've hidden. Gun and Engine Noise - shooting your gun or revving your engine cause noise that makes you visible to the enemy. They can hear a light tank gun fire out to 160m and your engine noise betrays you at 71m. (these numbers are the same for all light tanks). So, if you're fidgeting with you're position even slightly or have shot since the enemy was within that range, they can see you. A properly covered or concealed tank becomes invisible again once the noise has died away but the damage may have already been done. There's one thing people seem to forget even though they see its true for their team: One Enemy Sees You, They All See You Not much needs to be said about this. If you give one enemy a clear line of sight to you, all his allies within antennae range of another tank see you too. The trouble is you might not know where they are but they certainly know where you are. If you've really worked at scouting though then there's only one thing you want to do: (One other extremely important point about visibility - if an enemy in an odd spot suddenly becomes visible, he's just hit an Active Acoustics powerup and your team is probably revealed. That powerup extends your audible range by 700% but makes you visible too. Everyone should be thinking about changing position or direction of travel when they see this.) Don't Shoot! the "pop" of a light tank gun officially starts nearly every battle. See the enemy, shoot the enemy. The Phalanx is a selective shooter and rarely does the enemy appear in perfect position for you to really score. The second reason Phalanxes die first is shooting too early and revealing themselves before they're in good firing position. Unless you're forced to fight immediately what you should now do is withdraw a bit behind your teammates and... Flank the Enemy! - the M4 is a flanker. This means that it's job in a firefight is to get into position to the sides or preferably the rear of an enemy while they're engaged. A Phalanx is incapable of penetrating the front armor of any tank. Period. The rear armor of any tank is the thinnest and you should try to place every shell as close to it as possible. Your choice of shell should be based on the situation. Shells Choosing your shell is a bit more complicated than it was in the beginner's league where AP did for just about everything. AP shells are stillyour standard damage dealers, reliable and inexpensive. HEAT shells should be used when you need to control the situation by knocking out engines and crippling your enemy's subsystems to give you a longer advantage. HE shells should be used when you can't directly shoot the enemy (8m splash damage) or to increase your chances of a stowage kill. The drawback to their increased chance of an instakill is their penetration is unreliable. Those are the basics but they'll only go so far. Watch the Minimap! - it's always on, even in turret view. Especially in turret view! Heavy tanks take a lot of killing when you're driving a Phalanx. The temptation to zero in and get that kill is overwhelming. Think of checking the minimap just like you think of scanning the mirrors in your car. You might be focused forward but there may be danger on any side that you need to be aware of. A Phalanx with tunnel vision that fails to immediately respond to a threat revealed on the map is in trouble. Stick With Your Team! - To some players, this means running across the map to get into excellent firing position. For the newcomer Phalanx driver, it means actually sticking close to your team throughout the battle. You need your teammates' support if you get into trouble and they need yours as well. A great time to score high damage to an opponents rear is when they're closely engaged with your heavier teammates. Or multiple opponents pressing an ally. If you wander off in the course of the battle it becomes much easier to get into trouble and much harder to support your allies effectively. When Taking Damage, Retreat! - a common mistake among Phalanx drivers is to try and weather hit after hit in a firefight. The first time someone fires at you, whether they score a solid hit or just spray dirt near you, get out of dodge. If you're alive you can get into a better position and score damage with no enemies focused on you. The Phalanx may have been able to take that from Chisels but Type 90's are a completely different stormy. You shouldn't rely on your armor because your goal is to use it as little as possible. Drive Unpredictably! - simply turning tail and running away from or charging headlong toward most players in the Silver league gets you shot with a high degree of precision. When retreating, run an erratic zig-zag pattern that's difficult to predict. When charging, use the terrain and obstacles (other tanks included) to stay as covered as possible until you have to be out in the open. The Circle of Death - this is the common name for running around your opponent, staying ahead of their gun. Light and medium tanks out-traverse your ability to circle them in a Phalanx without a heap of experience. It's only when heavy tanks are well-upgraded, however, that their traverse can keep up. If you've found yourself in too close and under the gun of a heavy, turn on your autopilot and circle him. You can use the opportunity to shoot or to hare off in a random direction while he struggles to target you. They're Just Heavy Tanks - Don't be intimidated. There are plenty of posts from new Phalanx drivers stating emphatically that they'll never compete with heavy tanks. You shouldn't believe that. In a few games you'll have killed at least one. By ten, you'll be five heavy kills deep. By one hundred games you will have stopped counting coup period and they'll just be another target. The Phalanx is anything but an underdog with a good, smart driver.